Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Canada Revenue Agency accidentally sent a database full of confidential taxpayer info to the CBC

The Canada Revenue Agency confirmed late Tuesday that it has accidentally disclosed confidential taxpayer information to the CBC.

The agency said the document was “accidentally released” through human error and acknowledges this “constitutes a serious breach of privacy.”

CBC reported that the tax information contains data about hundreds of Canadians — many of them rich and famous — including their home addresses.

...The CRA said in a release late Tuesday that when it became aware of the breach, officials immediately contacted the CBC to retrieve the documents.

The agency said the CBC ”regrettably” chose to disclose names and a response from the network was not immediately available.

However, in its story on the breach, CBC News made clear it was not disclosing much of the information it had. The network said it was "withholding most details from the list, apart from the names of some of the people cited, out of respect for privacy."

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